With teams in place for coaches Georges St-Pierre and Josh Koscheck, the third episode of “The Ultimate Fighter 12″ starts with the fallout from the reality show tournament’s first elimination bout.

In that contest, Team GSP’s Alex Caceres, or “Bruce Leroy,” notched a come-from-behind win against tough-talking Team Koscheck fighter Jeff Lentz. Down a round after getting smothered against the cage and tossed
to the mat, Caceres seized on a lapse in Lentz’s defense and locked in a fight-ending triangle choke in the second round.

Back at the fighter house, the fighters pat each other on the backs over shots of Jagermeister. Lentz, of course, is frustrated about losing to his puffy-haired opponent.

“[Expletive],” he laments in a post-fight confessional.

Lubricated by the licorice-flavored liquor, they move to the kitchen, where Caceres rubs salt in the wound by proclaiming Lentz underestimated his talent and skill. That brings a few groans from other housemates,
particularly Team GSP’s Spencer Page.

“I’ve got to give Jeff props for not stabbing Bruce in the eye with a knife,” Page says.

More eyes roll as Caceres continues to gloat and claims his afro deflected all of Lentz’s kicks during the fight. In a confessional, he says he’s got the attention of his castmates. Teammate Kyle Watson begs to
differ.

“Were you still going? Because I stopped listening 10 minutes ago,” he tells Caceres.

Team GSP hits the gym next and coach St-Pierre expresses his desire to transform his team from fighters into martial artists. To that end, he brings in Olympic silver medalist wrestler Gia Sissaouri to show them
just how much they don’t know on the mat.

Sissaouri proceeds to have his way with Page, who flounders as the compact wrestler tosses him all over the mat. Page is happy to eat some humble pie because it will make his fights easier. Watson is not as happy; he
pounds the mat in frustration after giving up a takedown.

Team GSP makes way for Team Koscheck, and coach Koscheck is fired up about his team’s most recent setback.

“We’re down 0-1, and I want to win everything,” he said. “They’re representing me, and I want to go out there and kick ass.”

So
he does just that, and straps on gloves and headgear to get in the
trenches with his team. But the team’s motivation seems to sag as the
training session passes; one fighter claims he’s tired as he slumps
outside the cage, and another takes an unexcused bathroom break.
Koscheck is not happy.

“Lackluster,” he says in his evaluation of first half of practice.

After espousing the merits of “mindless training” in a mid-practice pep-talk, the team recovers and gets after it.

Next,
it’s time to announce the next quarterfinal fight, and all the fighters
except for Cacares wait anxiously as St-Pierre announces the next
matchup. The UFC welterweight champion calls up his first pick, Michael
Johnson, and pairs him with Koscheck’s sixth pick, Aaron Wilkinson.

See a strategy?

Wilkinson, though, thinks he’s being underestimated by Team GSP and Johnson.

“I
think my striking is better than his,” he says. “I think maybe I’m a
lot better wrestler than he thinks against the fence. And I think on the
ground I’ve got the upper hand, personally. But we’ll see when the
fight happens.”

Of course, Koscheck thinks St-Pierre’s strategy will backfire.

“I
think [Wilkinson] is a sleeper,” he says. “I think he has all the
tools, the heart, and the work ethic. This matchup could be the
turnaround for us.”

At the next Team GSP
training session, Johnson talks with Page bout the stakes of the fight
and tells the audience how he basically stalked Spike TV producers until
they gave him a shot on the show.

“Now that I’m here, I’m not going to let it go to waste,” he says.

In
a one-on-one lesson, coach St-Pierre tells Johnson he wants him to use
footwork to avoid Wilkinson’s right hand and tells the audience his
fighter should be able to take the fight down and pound out a win.

It’s
time for Team Koscheck’s practice, and coach Koscheck makes his first
overture as the show’s heel when he has his team box in St-Pierre’s
Toyota in the UFC training center’s parking lot (The Toyota is
undoubtedly a rental for the welterweight champ). When St-Pierre leaves
the gym, he gives a knowing smile to the champ.

“If
he’s thinking more about me and wanting to kick my ass because I can be
a peckerhead, that’s good,” Koscheck explains. “That means it takes
away from his guys.”

St-Pierre sees his Toyota and is not impressed by Koscheck’s performance.

“Josh, he tries to get under my skin, but he’s not the first guy to try to do that,” he says. “It’s not my first rodeo.”

With
a tense smile, the French-Canadian laments with some expletives of his
own and does some Yoga to slide into his car. Back in the gym, Koscheck
does his impression of “The Robot” as inspired by St-Pierre.

Wilkinson
gets in a boxing session with Koscheck trainer Teddy Lucio. The idea,
Koscheck says, is to keep the Brit moving on his feet to avoid Johnson’s
takedown. Wilkinson asks if he can take Johnson down. Koscheck says its
risky, but OK’s the move.

Both
fighters hit their marks on the scale, and it’s game time. UFC
president Dana White thinks the fight could go either way; it’s not the
slam dunk GSP’s team expects.

Johnson says he
picked the fight to establish his dominance as No. 1 pick, and Wilkinson
says he fights at his best when he’s underdog.

White
gets a call from St-Pierre, and it’s not about the jacked-up parking
situation. No, the champion wants former boxing titan Mike Tyson –
White’s friend – to speak to his team. White accepts, and Tyson
surprises GSP’s team as Johnson is warming up for the fight. Everyone
straightens up a bit, and St-Pierre is all smiles as he gushes to the
boxing champ about the brain cells he killed while playing “Mike Tyson’s
Punch-Out!!” on Nintendo.

After the usual
proclamations of victory, it’s fight time, and Johnson and Wilkinson
meet in the center of the cage. From the bell, Wilkinson is completely
ignoring his the wishes of his coaches and is planted in the center of
the cage. Johnson pops him with a few shots to loosen things up, but he
remains stiff.

Then, a big right hand from
Johnson forces Wilkinson to the cage, and Johnson gets a quick takedown.
But Wilkinson pops right up and gets some space with a knee. The two
reset, and the Brit again squares up and sits down on a few striking
combinations. He catches a kick from Johnson and charges for a takedown.
Johnson isn’t having it, though, and they wrestle for position against
the cage. But again, Wilkinson frees himself and they’re back in the
center trading.

There, the southpaw Johnson is
scoring frequently with his jab, and Wilkinson is looking to counter
with a straight right. Johnson goes with his strong suit and gets a
textbook double leg. Wilkson scrambles and rights himself against the
cage only to take some hard shots in the process. He dives for a
takedown and gets it after a short struggle. Suddenly, Johnson is
floundering in half-guard as the Brit rains down elbows. The American
ends the round in a bad spot – has he gassed?

Tyson tells White that Wilkinson “turned things around quick” and proceeds to cheer for Johnson.

The
two take the center of the octagon and Johnson clips Wilkinson with a
superman punch. They careen to the fence briefly, but Johnson gets
another quick takedown after re-engaging. Again, though, Wilkinson shows
he won’t be held down and charges his foe after righting himself. He
lands a couple of nice knees from the clinch and transitions to a nice
takedown. Johnson isn’t hanging out this time and gets another takedown
off a reversal. Wilkinson escapes, and it’s clear he needs to do
something big to pull this one off.

The two
trade in the octagon’s center, but they’re both fading, prompting White
to yell, “C’mon boys, who wants it!” The answer, apparently, is Johnson,
who stuffs a takedown attempt and smothers the Brit against the cage.
Exhausted, Wilkinson escapes and drives for a final takedown attempt.
But Johnson stuffs it, and he’s out of time.

White
anticipates a third round, and sure enough, the bout goes into sudden
victory. He says the fight is about who has more heart.

The
answer once again is Johnson, who railroads Wilkinson to the mat and
terrorizes him with punches. That forces the Brit to give us back, and
Johnson locks in a fight-ending rear naked choke with his hooks barely
sunk.

Tyson says Johnson’s speed won the day,
but Wilkinson was the better boxer. Koscheck says there was no need for a
third round; his fighter followed his game plan and won both frames.
Still, he’s disappointed his fighters aren’t putting on “the finishing
touches.”

Catch new episodes of “The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck” every Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Spike TV. MMAjunkie.com recaps each episode of the reality series, and full series coverage can be found on “The Ultimate Fighter 12” page.

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